Small talk while getting a tattoo - KOLUMNEWhenI still had enough hair to justify a regular visit to the hairdresser, I used to do it like this; as soon as I was called, took my place on the styling chair and had this cape put around me, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Which, of course, I didn't. But I just wasn't in the mood for hairdresser small talk, I had no interest in telling a hairdresser every four weeks "what I'm up to", whether or where I was on vacation or what my opinion was on current global political issues. I just wanted to get my hair cut and otherwise be left in peace, and of course I always had customers on my right and left for whom - incomprehensibly to me - chatting with the hairdresser was obviously the most important thing about getting their hair cut. How are the children, how is the rheumatism, why is Schillerstraße still not a traffic-calmed zone, the other day there was dog poo in the children's playground again. Not topics that would have been worth the effort of a conversation to me, but obviously important to other people. Clint Eastwood would probably have said casually in "Two Magnificent Scoundrels", with a cigarillo chewed in the corner of his mouth: "There are two kinds of people. One likes to talk and the other doesn't." In Cologne, this would simply mean: "Every Jeck is different!" It's not much different for tattooists in this respect. Some customers put their headphones on as soon as they sit down on the couch and are only responsive again when the tattoo artist has wiped over it for the last time and gesticulates to the customer that the tattoo is now finished and can be admired in the mirror - other customers, on the other hand, are extremely communicative, babble like a waterfall and you already know their entire family history back to the 30 Years' War even before the stencil has dried. Others are just incredibly curious, especially if it's their first tattoo, and try to interact with the tattoo artist in a communicative way; "Are you going to go over it again later?" "Have you forgotten a spot?" "Are you going to color it in?" "Will it get any darker?" "Will it get any lighter?" ...But the difference between hairdressers and tattoo artists is that hairdressers love to communicate during their work - sometimes you could almost think that small talk is the more important part of professional training for the hair-cutting trade - and the vast majority of tattoo artists don't. And since a tattoo session often takes a lot longer than a haircut, differences in opinion about whether the time a tattoo takes is best spent in meditative silence or with incessant chatter can lead to some tension between the tattoo artist and the client. For example, the client could say: "This is my first tattoo, do you mind if I ask you something from time to time?" or "I can best deal with the pain if I listen to music / podcasts / audio books at the same time, I hope you don't find it rude if I put on headphones" and equally, of course, the tattoo artist is free to say before the session begins: "No offense, but I'm fully concentrated while tattooing and can't talk" or, (unlikely but not impossible): "I always find it quite interesting to find out why someone is having this or that tattooed and I quite enjoy talking to my clients, plus it distracts them from the pain, is that ok with you? "Even short agreements beforehand can clarify the fronts and thus ensure a much more relaxed session for both sides.It really doesn't depend on the size, but on the technique.Text: Dirk-Boris RödelGraphic: Jonas Bachmann
Small talk while getting a tattoo - KOLUMNEWhenI still had enough hair to justify a regular visit to the hairdresser, I used to do it like this; as soon as I was called, took my place on the styling chair and had this cape put around me, I closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. Which, of course, I didn't. But I just wasn't in the mood for hairdresser small talk, I had no interest in telling a hairdresser every four weeks "what I'm up to", whether or where I was on vacation or what my opinion was on current global political issues. I just wanted to get my hair cut and otherwise be left in peace, and of course I always had customers on my right and left for whom - incomprehensibly to me - chatting with the hairdresser was obviously the most important thing about getting their hair cut. How are the children, how is the rheumatism, why is Schillerstraße still not a traffic-calmed zone, the other day there was dog poo in the children's playground again. Not topics that would have been worth the effort of a conversation to me, but obviously important to other people. Clint Eastwood would probably have said casually in "Two Magnificent Scoundrels", with a cigarillo chewed in the corner of his mouth: "There are two kinds of people. One likes to talk and the other doesn't." In Cologne, this would simply mean: "Every Jeck is different!" It's not much different for tattooists in this respect. Some customers put their headphones on as soon as they sit down on the couch and are only responsive again when the tattoo artist has wiped over it for the last time and gesticulates to the customer that the tattoo is now finished and can be admired in the mirror - other customers, on the other hand, are extremely communicative, babble like a waterfall and you already know their entire family history back to the 30 Years' War even before the stencil has dried. Others are just incredibly curious, especially if it's their first tattoo, and try to interact with the tattoo artist in a communicative way; "Are you going to go over it again later?" "Have you forgotten a spot?" "Are you going to color it in?" "Will it get any darker?" "Will it get any lighter?" ...But the difference between hairdressers and tattoo artists is that hairdressers love to communicate during their work - sometimes you could almost think that small talk is the more important part of professional training for the hair-cutting trade - and the vast majority of tattoo artists don't. And since a tattoo session often takes a lot longer than a haircut, differences in opinion about whether the time a tattoo takes is best spent in meditative silence or with incessant chatter can lead to some tension between the tattoo artist and the client. For example, the client could say: "This is my first tattoo, do you mind if I ask you something from time to time?" or "I can best deal with the pain if I listen to music / podcasts / audio books at the same time, I hope you don't find it rude if I put on headphones" and equally, of course, the tattoo artist is free to say before the session begins: "No offense, but I'm fully concentrated while tattooing and can't talk" or, (unlikely but not impossible): "I always find it quite interesting to find out why someone is having this or that tattooed and I quite enjoy talking to my clients, plus it distracts them from the pain, is that ok with you? "Even short agreements beforehand can clarify the fronts and thus ensure a much more relaxed session for both sides.It really doesn't depend on the size, but on the technique.Text: Dirk-Boris RödelGraphic: Jonas Bachmann
30.06.-02.07. Summer Tattoo Festival No.8
05.08.-06.08. Garda Tattoo Event
18.08.-20.08. Tunjo Tattoo Fest
15.09.-17.09. Millennium Tattoo Show No.6
15.09.-17.09. Cagliari Tattoo Convention No.13
22.09.-24-09. Bergamo Tattoo Expo
22.09.-24-09. Torino Tattoo Convention No.12
29.09.- 01.10. Urban Land Tattoo Expo Roma
29.09.-01.10. Mima Tattoo Convention No.5
13.10.-15.10. Genova Tattoo Convention No.16
14.10.-15.10. Roma Tattoo Expo No.23
20.10.-22-10. Ferrara Tattoo Convention No.5
27.10.-29.10. Passion Art Tattoo Convention Bolzano No.16
04.11.-05.11. Chiuduno Tattoo Weekend
10.11.-12.11. Ancona Tattoo Expo No.2
10.11.-12.11. Palermo Tattoo Convention No.9
11.11.-12.11. Trieste International Tattoo Expo No.14
11.11.-12.11. Catania Tattoo Convention No.5
01.12.-03.12. Florence Tattoo Convention No.13
08.12.-10.12. East Coast Tattoo Convention No.17
16.06.-18.06. Anime Tattoo Expo, Fire de Barcelona
30.06.-02.07.23 Asturias Tattoo Expo No.8
08.09.-10.09. Ibiza Tattoo Convention No.4
15.09.-17.09. Gaia Tattoo Expo No.3
06.10.-08.10. Barcelona Tattoo Expo No.26
27.10.-29.10. Alicante Tattoo Convention No.5
03.11.-05.11. Pamplona Tattoo Expo No.5
08.07.-09.07 . Bristol Tattoo Convention
22.07.-23.07 . Ink And Oil Tattoo Convention
29.07.-30.07. Great Western Tattoo Show
19.08.-20.08. Cornwall’s Tattoo Convention
19.08.-20.08. Tatcon Blackpool
26.08.-27.08. Big London Tattoo Show
16.09.-17.09. Buckley Ink Tattoo Convention
23.09.-24.09. Sheffield Tattoo Festival
30.09.-01.10. Tattoo Trojans Doncaster Tattoo Convention
07.10.-08.10. Locked up Tattoo Convention
14.10.-15.10. Halloween Tattoo Bash
11.11.-12.11. Wrexham Tattoo Show
02.09.-03.09. Tattoonika
14.10.-15.10. Wildstyle & Tattoo Messe Kapfenburg
21.10.-22.10. Wildstyle & Tattoo Messe Linz
28.10.-29.10. Wildstyle & Tattoo Messe Salzburg
01.09.-03.09. Lugano TI – Tattoo Convention No.24
16.06.-18.06. Epinal Tattoo Show
17.06.-18.06. Asian Festival Tattoo Show
01.07.-02.07. Caen Tattoo Show
08.07.-09.07. Rock Tattoo Spirit
15.07.-16.07. Sermaize Tattoo Convention
19.08.-20.08. Deauvile Tattoo Festival
01.09.-03.09. Montauban Tattoo Show
01.09.-03.09. Ink’n’Roll Chateauroux Tattoo Festival
02.09.-03.09. The 70’s Tattoo Show
09.09.-10.09. Jura Ink Park
09.09.-10.09. Dentelle Ink Alençon
09.09.-10.09. Champagne Tattoo Event
09.09.-10.09. Limoges Tattoo Show
15.09.-17.09. Univers Tattoo Convention
16.09.-17.09. Circus Tattoo Show
16.09.-17.09. Kustom Festival & Tattoo
16.09.-17.09. Perpignan Tattoo Convention
22.09.-24.09. Nantes Tattoo Convention
23.09.-24.09. Isere Tattoo Show
23.09.-24.09. Girl Ink Tattoo Show
30.09.-01.10. Perigueux Tattoo Expo
30.09.-01.10. La Maison d’Encre
07.10.-08.10. Convention Tatouage de Bourges
14.10.-15.10. Poitiers Tattoo Convention
13.10.-15.10. Chalons en Champagne Tattoo Show
20.10.-22.10. Evian Tattoo Show
21.10.-22.10. Biarritz Tattoo Fest
21.10.-22.10. Fabulous Tiki Weekend
21.10.-22.10. Bourg-en-Bresse Tattoo Convention
21.10.-22.10. The Team Miss P’ink Tattoo
28.10.-29.10. Cahors Tattoo & Geek
03.11.-05.11. Sugar Ink Tattoo Convention
11.11.-12.11. Love Tattoo Festival
18.11.-20.11. Potopistons Tattoo Convention
18.11.-19.11. Salon du Tatouage Clermont
25.11.-26.11. Troyes Tattoo Convention
01.12.-03.12. Merry Christmas Tattoo Show
02.12.-03.12. Nohell Tattoo Show
02.12.-03.12. Tarn Tattoo Convention
22.09.-24.09. Hans Christian Andersen Tattoo Convention No.6
27.10.-29.10. Nordic Ink Festival No.12
16.09.-17.09. Bulgaria Tattoo Expo VIII
25.08.-27-08. INKJUNX
02.09.-03.09. Craboutcha Tattoo Festival
02.09.-03.09. Tox Cit’Ink No.10
23.09.-24.09. Brügge Tattoo Convention No.2
07.10.-08.10. Skin Art Expo No.14
14.10.-15-10. Mons Tattoo Convention No.5
28.10.-29.10. Hasselt Tattoo Convention No.2
28.10.-29.10. Kempen Tattoo Convention No.3
10.11.-12.11. Brüssel Tattoo Convention No.13
16.09.-17.09. Haná Tattoo Expo No.5
18.11. Pardubice Tattoo Event No.8
28.07.-30.07. Maiden City Tattoo Convention No.11
29.09.-01.10. Dublin Tattoo Convention No.22
21.10.-22-10. Wild Atlantic Tattoo Show
25.08.-27.08. Baltic Tattoo Convention No.5 ^
21.10.-23.10. Vianden Tattoo Convention No.23
15.07.-16.07. Ink Panthers Tattoo Convention No.2
15.09.-17.09. Amsterdam Tattoo Convention No.17
23.09.-24.09. Ink and Cutz Tattoo Convention No.6
01.07.-02.07. Warsaw Tattoo Convention No.10
02.09.-03.09. Katowice Tattoo Konwent
16.09.-17.09. Opole Tattoo Expo No.5
14.10.-15.10. Hagen Tattoo Convention
25.11.-26.11. Lodz Tattoo Konwent
05.10.-08.10. Lisbon Tattoo Rock Fest No.16
01.09.-03.09. Constanta Tattoo Convention
20.10.-22-10. Bucharest Tattoo Convention No.11
06.08.-13.08. Ink Needle Tattoo Convention
25.08.-26.08. Minicon
01.09.-03.09. Stockholm Ink Bash Tattoo Convention No.26
